Once upon time, back in the day, my first wife and I would quit our jobs

[OffWithTheirHeads]

every summer and spend the summer backpacking in Yosemite National Park. This was before Ronald Ray-Gun. A time when you could quit your job and know another job would be available when you came back. We would spend about three months every summer backpacking the Serra's. After awhile, the only way you could tell what day of the week it was is because the tourists would ride by on mule trains which meant it was probably a weekend. After washing in fresh snowwmelt every day it took weeks to get used to hot water when we returned to "civilisation".

One day, we ended up in Tuolomie Med wows and his guy came buy with a big truck full of milk and food and stuff and started giving it all away. He said it was the "Free, Underground, Commodities Ko-op". Also known s FUCK.

I ran into this guy in San Francisco several months later and he explained to me that the park service told him that the the food had be used or thrown out.

Apparently, Arizona hs something similar
called the 3000 club.

You need to check it out.

[BeyondGeography]

1. This country used to be a lot more fun

and not just because we were younger. Decent jobs were more plentiful and, just as important, the basics (ie rents) were a lot more affordable. It made those who were capable of relaxing more relaxed.

Thanks for the anecdote.

[Rowdyboy]

2. Student loans and college were both affordable even to a truck drivers kid with 4 siblings....

Without incurring an enormous debt for life.

[Bonx]

4. Infrastructure was cheap too

You could burn your garbage in an open pit, run a waste pipe for everything from the factory right into the river, build a road thru any old piece of wetland or whatever, no expensive safety equipment to prevent the loss of eyes, fingers & limbs.

[onethatcares]

7. I don't remember those days.

especially in the 80s.

Could you give an example or two?

I'll give Nixon a pat on the back for the EPA, which was at least a start, I'll give the unions kudos for working toward

job safety and security.

I grew up in the 60s and got my first job in 68. First year out of high school I had 37 jobs, 14 of which sent me W-2 forms
at the end of the year.

[Bonx]

12. Factory town in the 50's

[BeyondGeography]

8. Yup...College costs have increased 10X since the 70s

That's my experience, and I'm sticking to it.

[Rowdyboy]

9. Also housing and food have skyrocketed while minimum wage has barely tripled....

There's no way I could make it financially through school today.

[babylonsister]

6. Amen! I hitched around the

country in my 20's-long, fun story, but that would never happen today.

[Adsos Letter]

3. Did you ever make the trail to Vogelsang Camp. or the Golden Crown Mine?

Backpacked in Yosemite some when I was younger. Definitely remember Tuolumne Meadows. Even used horses from the pack station there once.

[NBachers]

5. You must've spent time down in the Poopenaut Valley

I guess that makes you a Poopeneer.

[woo me with science]

10. Thank you for the reminder

of what has been stolen from us.

[snooper2]

11. someobody stole Yosemite National Park!

WTF!

[woo me with science]

13. Deny, deflect, deceive...

Carry on.

[snooper2]

14. I thought it was "act like Putin" day

LOL, my bad

[woo me with science]

15. You forgot to add something about Ron Paul, or Teabaggers.

So predictable...

Meanwhile, the OP's memory is important. Corporatists like to pretend that "the new normal" isn't the result of deliberately chosen policy. We know better.

[snooper2]

16. Ron Paul? Is that the smoker dude?

[woo me with science]

17. Deny, deflect, deceive.

Corporate money out of politics. End the corporate ownership of our politicians. End the incessant, insulting propaganda.

It's our only hope.

[Brigid]

19. Yes, *we* know better.

Even younger DUers can read threads like this and get the idea. But too many have no clue; they have no sense of what has been stolen from all of us.

[woo me with science]

22. +1 It's important to take this stuff beyond DU.

On one hand, some of the fiercest work on behalf of Occupy has come from millenials. I admire every young person who's taken up this cause with no direct knowledge or memory of what has been lost...

On the other hand, there's a whole country of people who are too busy working to survive to notice anything other than what the corporate media and the propagandists spew. The only way I know to counter that is to keep talking about what's been lost, and to expose the propaganda for what it is.

That's why I'm grateful every time someone like the OP reminds us of what has been stolen from us.

[Zorra]

18. We did something similar traveling and seasonally working the fruit, or if we found

a place we liked, we'd pick up schlock jobs and hang in the area, checking out the natural wonders of the area until we felt like moving on. We always had an emergency fund in case we couldn't find a job right away, but there was almost always some work we could fall into

Those days are gone, and I feel bad for adventurous folks who want to do this type of thing, but can't because it is so difficult now.

Fuck Ronald Reagan, and all those like him, for what they did to America and the world.

Thanks, will check out the Arizona 3000 club.

[Populist_Prole]

20. I'm dejected at how much being a ladder climbing workaholic is glamorized

Shows how much the conservatives have poisoned the discourse over time.

The whole "enjoy life later" and "you can sleep all you want when you're dead" meme sure suckers a lot of people. From my anecdotal evidence, that whole throttling back and finally coasting dynamic never happens, assuming one actually did make their pile. It becomes such an ingrained trait that even in retirement, it's still "go go go" for people being used to being perenially ehausted.

Enjoy life. Enjoy autonomy.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

21. No shit! At the time, we were probably taking home $50.00 to $60.00 a week.

and we could still afford to take summers off. Gas was less than 25 cents a gallon and $2..00 would fill our VW for a week. After Ray Gun was elected, vacations of any kind became rare and short. Note even the American term vacation, like you are vacating your responsibilities as opposed to the European "Holiday" like in holy day.

[woo me with science]

23. kick